Rookie David Hunter's football life is truly a unique one: at the high school, college and NFL-levels he's played in the Greater Houston area.
The defensive lineman was signed to the Texans' 53-man roster on Tuesday from the practice squad, and the former Houston Cougar and Waller High School Bulldog was all smiles after Wednesday's practice.
"It's real sweet," Hunter said. "All my family's from Houston, so it's just good to be here playing for my hometown team, and all my friends are here so it's great."
Hunter takes the spot vacated by Tim Jamison, who injured an Achilles in the first half of Sunday night's loss to Green Bay. Hunter can play both defensive end spots, as well as nose tackle in coordinator Wade Phillips' 3-4 scheme.
"To be honest, they expect me to be able to still play all three positions, that's what I've been doing since I've been here," Hunter said. "Just go out there whenever a coach says 'Hey, David, you're in the game.'"
Texans general manager Rick Smith said the path Hunter took as an undrafted free agent was a tough one, but the way he's traveled it has been admirable.
"I was impressed with the way he came in and just put his head down and worked," Smith said on Wednesday. "He was fighting an uphill battle. He recognized that, knew that, but just continued to get better.
During his college career, Hunter racked up 163 tackles, recorded seven sacks and forced a pair of fumbles. He wasn't drafted last April, and joined Houston as a rookie free agent in May. His story has a bit of longshot in it, but ultimately, Hunter wasn't surprised.
"When I was younger we did our goals and one of my goals was either I was going to be an architect or play in the NFL, and, obviously, I'm not an architect," Hunter said. "This has always been my goal to get here. I've had a lot of naysayers, people saying I couldn't do it, so I've always worked hard to prove them wrong and to show that I can play in the NFL."
Hunter will finish up his degree, which is actually retailing and consumer science, this spring at the University of Houston.
